photo by Dirty Sugar Studios
DAVE SOLOMON is an award-winning New York-based writer and director working in both theatre and film.
He has worked on sixteen Broadway productions, two major motion pictures and has written and/or directed in NYC, London, Tokyo, Canada and in various regional theatres nationwide.
He is currently directing and developing the new musical Pump up the Volume, by Jeff Thomson and Jeremy Desmon, based on the 1990 Allan Moyle film starring Christian Slater. He has taken the show through a number of development steps including staged concert productions at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles and at the Adirondack Theatre Festival in upstate NY, a NYC industry workshop and a presentation of the first act as part of MTFest UK in London, that received a rave write-up in The Guardian. He also directed an earlier developmental workshop of the piece with the Canadian Musical Theatre Project at the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto, as well as a concert version at Joe’s Pub (featuring performers such as Leslie Odom, Jr, Lucas Steele and Nancy Opel) that was featured in Entertainment Weekly and New York Magazine.
His film, Brenda & Billy (and the Pothos Plant), which he wrote and directed, stars Santino Fontana, Sarah Stiles, Julie Halston, Beethoven Oden and Catherine Curtin. It premiered as an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and, after playing in over twenty festivals nationwide, can be seen online on Screamfest and Film Shortage YouTube platforms and is licensed for distribution by Tiny Scripted.
Solomon’s other film credits include the award-winning short film photo op, starring Randy Harrison (“Queer as Folk”), Aaron Lazar, Hannah Bos and Lucas Steele, that played over twenty film festivals including Palm Springs International ShortFest and Outfest Los Angeles. His short film, Cavan, also had a successful, award-winning festival run winning awards for direction and performance. And he has written two feature screenplays and a series pilot (that he hopes will all be an official part of this bio soon!)
Solomon recently directed the new musical Already Perfect at the Kings Head Theatre in London. A three-person original piece written by and starring Tony-winner Levi Kreis; for which Solomon also wrote additional book material.
He also directed the staged benefit reading of The Rink for Classic Stage Company; starring Tony winners Beth Leavel, Jessie Mueller and Santino Fontana. The extended two-night sold-out event was the first NYC revival of the Tony-award winning musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Terrence McNally.
As a playwright, his play Margaret and Craig, starring Mario Cantone, has been seen at New York Stage and Film (directed by Tony-nominated Sheryl Kaller), and was part of The New Group’s New Work series; also directed by Kaller and featuring Cantone and Marin Ireland. A newly updated version was produced as a reading for Roundabout Theatre Company; featuring Cantone and Jessica Hecht.
Solomon has been a frequent Associate Director to Bill Condon, Joe Mantello and Scott Ellis, and his Broadway credits include Elf (2024), Tootsie, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 9 to 5, Pal Joey, Sunday in the Park with George (2008), The Ritz, Curtains and Assassins. He was also Scott Ellis’ associate and an Associate Producer on “A Christmas Story Live” for Fox.
Solomon assisted Oscar-winner Bill Condon on the live-action film version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and also worked with Condon on the feature film, Mr. Holmes, starring Ian McKellen and Laura Linney. He also served as Condon’s Associate Director on the stage production of Side Show, working alongside the director in developing the revised version of the Henry Krieger/Bill Russell musical that played La Jolla Playhouse and The Kennedy Center before arriving on Broadway to critical acclaim.
He also directed the Japanese premiere production of Tootsie the Musical (in Japanese) that was produced by TOHO Theatrical and starred Ikusaburo Yamazaki. He also directed the first national tour of the Tony-winning musical; which was a slightly revised and newly conceived production with choreography by Tony-nominated Denis Jones and featuring new material by Robert Horn (Tony Winner, Best Book of a Musical) and David Yazbek, based on the original Broadway production directed by Scott Ellis. It received rave reviews in its two-year run across major cities and theatres throughout the U.S.
He is also the current tour-director/restager of the new national tour of ELF the musical (2025-26); based on the London and Broadway revival productions directed by Philip McKinley.
During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, he directed a unique theatrical-cinematic hybrid production of Adam Gwon’s musical Ordinary Days for the Pittsburgh Playhouse, featuring a production design by Jason Ardizzone-West and new material by Adam Gwon; written exclusively for this production’s dual gender-bending casting which included future Tony-nominated actor Jaquel Spivey (“A Strange Loop”) and Jana Larell Glover (“Six”).
Other theatre credits include: the critically-acclaimed world premiere of Diana Amsterdam’s play, The Dodgers, at the Hudson Theatre in LA (with Corbin Bleu, Talisa Friedman, Jared Gertner, Asher Grodman, Emma Hunton, and Eric Nelsen) and the theatrical song-cycle You’re Gonna Hate This, with composer Michael Holland and Tony-Winner Lindsay Mendez; that performed at both Joe’s Pub and Feinstein’s/54 Below, an acclaimed production of The Play That Goes Wrong for the historic Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans and Marrying Meg, which was one of the eight shows selected by the New York Times as a highlight of that year’s New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF).
He has also directed (and AD’d) numerous benefits and galas including serving as the creative director of a unique, experiential winter gala for THE SHED in New York City; conceiving of a ‘Sea Change’ concept that was carried out in a production design by Emmy-winner Jason Ardizzone-West (“Jesus Christ Superstar Live”), with lighting by Aaron Copp, décor design by John Goodman, and featuring appearances by Marina Abramović, Ralph Fiennes and a DJ-set by Questlove; as well as a pop-up photo shoot by Dirty Sugar Studios and tarot card readings on ‘arachnomancy’ cards designed by Tomás Saraceno.
For the high seas, Solomon was instrumental in the creation and development of the exclusive Beauty and the Beast production for Disney Cruise Line and the Disney Dream; combining elements of the animated classic with the more recent live-action film. He was also the bookwriter for Palace of Lights, an original musical for Norwegian Cruise Line directed and choreographed by Tony-winner Warren Carlyle and featuring music by Ryan Scott Oliver and two-time Grammy-winner Albita Cantante.
As a writer, he has also had works produced or performed at Ars Nova and Developing Artists and has been a resident of SPACE on Ryder Farm.
Solomon has also been a guest artist, instructor and teacher having worked at a number of universities, educational institutions and with various independent studios including Michigan State University, Point Park University, New York Film Academy, Norwalk Conservatory of the Arts, The Growing Studio and Actors Therapy.
He also has been an Assistant Company Manager on five Broadway productions for the Roundabout Theatre Company: Anything Goes, Brief Encounter, Sondheim on Sondheim, Waiting for Godot and 110 in the Shade.
Solomon is a graduate of Vassar College and is represented by Michael Finkle at William Morris Endeavor.